"We felt a little betrayed because we wanted to let the Blair Witch hype die down a little because it was so out of control and there was a bit of a backlash," says Myrick. "To use an American analogy, it was like winning the world series on your first time at bat."ĭesperate to cash in on the worldwide Blair Witch buzz, a sequel was hastily prepared at Artisan, directed by documentary-maker Joe Berlinger and released in 2000.Īlthough turning a profit, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was soundly derided by critics the world over and was nominated for five Razzies, Hollywood's equivalent of a slap in the chops.
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"Part of my semi-retirement after Blair Witch was me dealing with my personal demons like, 'How the hell am I going to follow this movie up? "It was nice to be able to pay back the people that believed in us like our families and friends."īut peaking so early left its mark on Sanchez, who took a self- imposed "retirement" which lasted several years. "We had to fight for our piece of the pie but ultimately we did okay," says Myrick. The film was released on 30 July 1999 and went on to earn nearly $250m, netting its makers a modest profit which they are reluctant to divulge. "Really for us, it wasn't about creating this whole new way of marketing films - people are on the web asking about this movie, how else are we going to get it to them? "We had created this whole mythology and I just kept massaging it and building more details into it. "I was the only one with web-building experience and also, I didn't have a girlfriend at the time so I had a lot of time on my hands.
Actor Mike Williams and director Eduardo Sanchez hang out in the basement